The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting is a book I’ve been anticipating for months. I really like Kimberly’s paranormal series, and I couldn’t wait to see what she’d do in the dystopian genre!

Words have power. That is true in our world, and it is certainly true in Charlie’s. In fact, you could probably call it The Truth. Language equals status, and if someone is speaking a language above your status you must look down and not acknowledge it. Making eye contact in that situation? Equals death. For most people, this is easy. You aren’t even allowed to learn the languages spoken in stations above yours – so looking down is no big deal. For Charlie however, things are a little more complicated. She was born with the ability to understand any language…so yeah. That makes things a little more dramatic.

What a cool plot line, right? A dystopian government built on words and language. Add in the mystery of why Charlie has her mysterious gift – and we have ourselves an entertaining story. Then of course, there is also Max. Charlie is drawn to him immediately, but she is also crazy wary of him because he speaks a language she has never heard. The scary part? He can tell that she understands him. And she thought her life was complicated before…

So: bottom line. The plot rocks. The government is controlled by a queen who is seriously scary. We meet her in the prologue when she forces her essence (as an old woman) into her young daughter so that she can continue to rule. Turns out she has been doing this basically forever. Where will it end? Who has the power to stop her? The answers await you.

The bad news? The characters absolutely fail to live up to the story. Charlie is intriguing yes, but also pretty flat. (I think the most interesting character was, by far, her best friend Brooklyn.) Also, she and Max fall on the wrong side of the insta-love line. Things move way too quickly for them with way too few interactions. I felt the tingly sparks of chemistry when they met – but then their relationship progressed way too much too fast. I expected a lot more from the book since the relationship between the MCs in Kimberly’s Body Finder series is so stellar!

So, even though I absolutely loved the plot, the book ended up falling pretty flat for me because of the characters. Still, I know a lot of people are looking forward to reading it and I bet a ton of you will end up liking it a lot more than I did! Despite my ultimate disappointment, I still think the book is worth reading for the action and story. I really do like The Body Finder series, so I’m certainly still a Kimberly Derting fan.

Aww… We were all worked up and excited when we started your review, then we got to the bad news. *sigh* Well, we’ll probably still check it out, but at least know we have more realistic expectations. Thanks for the great review!We Heart YA recently posted..YA Author Discussion Panel (and giveaway)

i just got the pledge on galleygrab, and i’m pretty freaking excited despite the fact that i have a feeling i might not like it all that much, a feeling which your review only reinforced. (oh my god, why do i sound like such a HUGE nerd? *cringes*)

I’ve been dying to read this book but I’m kind of glad that your review has burst a few holes in my expectations for it because now I probably won’t be as disappointed when I do have the chance to read it. The plot line sounded so amazing to me….but its too bad the relationship fell flat for you. Now I’m interested in reading The Body Finder series though…! Great review!

Agree about the insta-love not living up to the BODY FINDER swoon, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this one! I love to read about what works and doesn’t for other readers though, so thanks for sharing Lenore Appelhans recently posted..Book Review: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting